When Cyril Despres took off this morning from San Juan, he had fifteen minutes separating himself from the leader of the 2011 Dakar Rally, Marc Coma. It was a lead that Despres would not be able to earn back on his own. He needed for Coma to make a mistake.
"I had to go on the attack, it's a bit second nature for me anyway, so I've been going for it since the first kilometre, even if I slowed a bit at the end," Despres said. "At least it's good to not have any regrets. I gave it everything I had and it was a long day. It must have rained a lot last night because the tracks were churned up with lots of mud. It was hellish. My chances are looking slimmer though. After a day like that with 555 km to cover and opportunities to open up gaps, we more or less cancelled each other out. Mind you, it's not the end of the world, you know, you have to keep things in perspective.”
But Coma rode another flawless stage from San Juan to Cordoba, and claimed his fifth special of this year's rally. It is Coma's 16th stage victory of his career, and it will set him up nicely for his third Dakar Rally win.
Behind the leading duo came third place rider Helder Rodriguez. Rodriguez finished 8 minutes behind Coma, and is now an hour and 42 minutes behind in the general standings.
Despres is sure to attack again tomorrow, but without an uncharacteristic mistake from Coma, the two KTM riders will find themselves with three Dakar Rally wins a piece at the end of tomorrow's stage.
